Christmas in the ER
by FreeFlyingWriter
Summary: Love isn't easy, neither is marriage. Marriage is give and take for both parts. Trust, patience, communication and let's not forget love is key elements. How will the couple be when one of them is faced with a difficult situation and the other a possible life threatening situation? One-shot TxG


**Hello internet! This is my first High School Musical fanfiction that I have published. I wanted to do a one-shot before I entered with a longer story. I'm not completly happy about how this turned out, but I'm tired of re-writing. I have been a registred member for a couple of years now writing in another fandom, and wanted to enter here. I hope you like it! On my profile I have a poll where you can vote on what Troy's proffesion should be in my next long story. Details should be there. Up to 3 choices allowed! Fell free to PM me or leave a review if you have thoughts, comments, idea anything! I answere everything I get. Now on to the story hope you like it!**

 _Love isn't easy, neither is marriage. Marriage is give and take for both parts. Trust, patience, communication and let's not forget love is key elements. How will the couple be when one of them is faced with a difficult situation and the other a possible life threatening situation?_

"It smells so go," Troy complimented.

"I hope so. Your parents should be here in two hours…" "…and I leave in one and a half," Troy finished.

"You should go and sleep," Gabriella encouraged.

"I probably should," he said and gave Gabriella a kiss.

Today was Christmas Eve. Gabriella, Troy and his parents were going to celebrate Christmas together. Unfortunately, Troy had to work at the hospital. He was an ER doctor in San Francisco. He was a head taller than Gabriella but it didn't intimidate her. Quite the contrary. She felt protected. Gabriella heard her husband's footstep up the stairs and the door closed. They had been married for six months. Gabriella still felt lucky that Troy -the handsome jock- choose her -the geek- amongst everyone. He made her feel loved every day. He was saying sweet things, putting a hand around her, kissing her and occasionally bringing flowers. She was so lucky!

She felt a pain in her stomach and gasped slightly. She turned the stove down and went into the bathroom. She pulled down her pants and groaned. What a perfect time to get her period! She washed herself, put on a pad and walked back into the kitchen to finish dinner. After getting the turkey out of the oven her cramps had gotten worse. She walked into the bathroom and opened the medicine cabinet. She pulled out her package of painkillers. They were fairly strong but she popped out two. She drank a glass of milk before she drowned them with water. Gabriella walked upstairs and into their bedroom. Troy were in bed on his side asleep, snoring softly. She climbed in bed beside him and snuggled close to him. The pills were staring to help so the pain eased, hence she fell asleep.

When Gabriella awoke almost an hour later she didn't feel great. She had mild pain in her abdomen, was slightly nauseous and cold. She pulled the covers closer to her and crept closer to Troy. Troy turned around and looked at her.

"You okay?" he asked his voice full of sleep. One look at her and Troy knew she wasn't. Troy placed his strong arms around Gabriella and she snuggled closer. "Better?" Troy asked and Gabriella nodded into his chest.

"Shouldn't you get to work soon?" she questioned.

"Probably," he said with a pout which made Gabriella giggle. "Five minutes won't hurt," he concluded and kissed her head.

The couple laid there snuggled into each other before Troy concluded that he needed to get up. Troy got out of the bed and put on his clothes. He looked at his wife in bed. She had rolled over to his side of the bed and stolen his blanket. Troy walked over to her and squatted.

"Do you need anything? Painkillers?" he asked placing a hand on her forehead.

"No, I've taken some painkillers already," she said looking into his ocean blue eyes.

"What and when?" he asked.

"Period type about an hour ago," she spoke softly.

"Sure you're okay?" Troy asked obviously concerned. "I am, now you need to go," she urged.

"Tell my parents if there is anything, and don't overdo it. Doctor orders," he said and Gabriella laughed.

"Go now doctor," she said sitting up.

"Love you sweetheart," "Love you to," she said and they shared a kiss. Troy reluctantly left the house.

Troy parked the car at the hospital, when the clock in his car turned six forty. Twenty minutes before his shift started. He walked out of the car and locked it, putting the keys in his jacket. He walked inside the hospital and to the locker rooms. There he saw Hailey Brown. A nurse in the ER and his good friend -Dr. Eric Johnson- happened to have a crush on her.

"Hey Hailey," Troy said opening his locker.

"Hi Troy. See you're working on Christmas Eve," she observed.

"Yeah," he sighed. "What would you expect when choosing the ER," he pointed out taking out his pale blue almost grey scrubs.

"This," she said with a small laugh taking out her pink scrubs. "See you around," she said walking into the changing room.

"See ya," Troy said into the now empty room. He looked at one of the pictures he had in his locker. It was of him and Gabriella their junior year. The day he won the championship game. He was smiling doing a sign to Chad and Gabriella had her arms wrapped around him smiling. It was a black and white photo and without doubt one of his favourites. He closed his locker and walked into the changing rooms. Troy changed out of his street clothes and into the scrubs before walking out. He put the clothes in his locker and took out his stethoscope and pager. Ready for the mayhem of the ER on Christmas Eve.

Back at the Bolton's house Gabriella had fallen back asleep after Troy left. She had woken up just in time to get some clothes on before Troy's parents came. Gabriella loved Troy's parents like her own, and they saw Gabriella as their daughter. Gabriella had just come down the stairs when the door bell was sounded. She walked into the hallway and opened the door.

"Hey Gabriella! It's so good to see you," she smiled giving her a hug.

"Hey Lucille. Good to see you to," she smiled.

"How are you?" she asked placing her hands on either side of Gabriella's face.

"A bit under the weather," she said.

"Sure you're okay with all of this? With Troy working?" Lucille questioned.

"Don't worry Lucille. It's just so nice that you wanted to take the trip from New Mexico to California," she said dismissively.

"Oh I don't mind getting away from the cold," she smiled.

"Where is Jack?" "Right here," he said carrying a suitcase. He too gave Gabriella a hug and the adults walked inside.

"You know your way around. Sorry that I hadn't had time to clean as much as I'd like to," she said looking around.

"Oh don't worry one bit. It looks just more like a living home," she said and Gabriella smiled. "Do you want me to help with dinner?" Lucille asked.

"I'll take the suitcases upstairs," Jack announced and headed up the stairs.

"Yes if you could..." Gabriella said giving Lucille instructions on what to do. Together they served dinner thirty minutes later and it smelled amazing Lucille thought.

Throughout the dinner the three adults talked and cached up on what had happened. Lucille noticed that Gabriella seemed off. She ate up what was on her plate but that wasn't much. When everyone was finished Jack offered to do the dishes while Gabriella and Lucille cleared the table. Gabriella were just going to collect the glasses when she suddenly felt nauseous. She covered her mouth and ran past Lucille to the bathroom.

"Gabi," Lucille called and followed her. She felt bad for Gabriella when she sat there, hunched over the bowl puking. Lucille gathered her hair and stroke her back. "It's okay," she soothed. Gabriella puked for a good five minutes before she finally leaned back in Lucille's embrace.

"You didn't tell me you were this bad," Lucille said.

"I didn't feel like this before," she said. Lucille looked down at Gabriella's red and tear stained face. "Better now?" she asked and Gabriella nodded. She helped Gabriella up and she brushed her teeth while Lucille flushed the toilet.

"Go lay down on the sofa, and I'll get you a cold washcloth. Jack will manage," Lucille said and Gabriella only nodded. She walked into living room and lay down on the couch. Jack noticed Gabriella coming out of the bathroom. He heard water running and then his wife came out.

"Is she okay?" Jack asked obviously concerned.

"Right now yes. She told me when we arrived she was feeling a little under the weather," Lucille said.

"Poor thing," Jack said before returning to the kitchen. Lucille walked into the living room and Gabriella sat up when she came.

"Just stay down," Lucille said. Lucille sat down beside Gabriella, and she rested her head on Lucille's lap. She placed the washcloth on her daughter-in-laws forehead and stroke her hair.

"Do you want anything to eat?" Lucille asked.

"No thanks," she denied politely. "This isn't how you should have spent Christmas," Gabriella said looking into Lucille's green eyes.

"Don't worry about it Gabriella. This wasn't anything you could predict," Lucille reassured her. "Better that we are here than you being alone," she pointed out.

Lucille continued stroking Gabriella's hair while they talked. "I have a question Gabriella," Lucille said quietly

"Yes?" Gabriella answered.

"Your symptoms. They are similar to a pregnancy. Is there a chance?" she asked.

"No, sorry. We always use protection and I'm still on birth control. Besides I got my period today," Gabriella said. Lucille was going to say something but suddenly Gabriella shoot up and grasped her stomach.

"You okay?" Lucille asked her.

"It hurts," Gabriella said her voice at the verge of tears.

"Where does it hurt?" Lucille asked. Gabriella pointed to her right in the abdomen. She held her arms around her stomach and she started to cry. Lucille wrapped her arms around Gabriella and tried to sooth her. Gabriella didn't stop crying and the pain never ceased. Jack came walking into the living room and found his wife comforting his daughter-in-law.

"What's wrong?" Jack asked.

"My stomach hurts. It has since before Troy left," she said.

"Did you tell him?"

"I did. I also took some painkillers but it didn't help," she said still crying.

"We should call an ambulance," Lucille concluded. She got up from the sofa and Jack took her place. He wrapped his arms around Gabriella who continued to cry. Lucille found her phone and dialled 911.

"911 What's your emergency?" the dispatcher asked.

"My daughter-in-law has had stomach ache for a couple of hours. It suddenly got worse ten minutes ago," Lucille informed.

"Has it ceased or is it still as bad?"

"It hasn't changed," Lucille said.

"Don't worry ma'am, an ambulance is on the way," the dispatcher said. Lucille walked over to Gabriella and pushed the coffee table out of the way.

"It's going to be ok Gabriella," Lucille said talking to her.

"The ambulance is three minutes away ma'am. How's she doing now?" the dispatcher said through the phone.

"Do you feel different?" Lucille asked Gabriella who shook her head. "Worse?" again Gabriella shock her head. "She say's nothings different," Lucille said.

Two minutes later and Lucille heard sirens. She opened the door just as the ambulance stopped. The dispatcher said goodbye and ended the phone call.

"She's in here," Lucille said guiding the paramedics over to where Gabriella sat. Jack reluctantly rose from the sofa to give the paramedics more room to work. He put a hand around his wife to try and comfort her.

"Can you tell us your name?" the brown haired female said.

"G... Gabriella," she stuttered and with that Lucille's heart broke. She hated seeing her like that, since she was obviously in a great deal of pain.

"Okay Gabriella, I'm Alicia and we're going to help you okay," Alicia spoke calmly.

"Where does it hurt?" she asked. Gabriella pointed at her right side and under her belly button.

"How long have you noticed the pain?"

"I first noticed it around five I think," she said and Alicia nodded.

"Have anything else been happening?" she continued to question.

"I think I might have a fever, because I've been really cold," Gabriella mentioned.

"She didn't eat much during dinner, and threw up not long ago," Lucille supplied.

"We should take her to the ER," Alicia concluded.

"Gabriella can you walk?" Alicia asked as her partner picked up the medical bag. Gabriella placed her feet on the floor and stood up. She immediately sat down again.

"It hurts," she whimpered.

"Mark, we'll need the stretcher," Alicia ordered. They lowered the stretcher and put it beside the sofa. Gabriella eased herself onto the stretcher, and lay her head down on the pillow.

"We're going to put an oxygen mask and a blanket over you okay," Alicia said. Gabriella nodded while tears streaming down her cheeks. Alicia placed the oxygen mask, and blanket before putting on the black security straps.

"Do either of you want to ride with her in the ambulance?" Mark asked as Alicia raised the stretcher.

"You go, I'll meet you there," Jack said and squeezed his wife's hand supporting. Lucille nodded and checked she had her phone, before grabbing a thin jacket and followed the paramedic out. They quickly loaded Gabriella into the ambulance and Lucille sat down. Lucille heard the sirens start and then the ambulance speeded of towards the hospital.

* * *

"Ambulance in five minutes, suspected appendix. The patient is a 24-year-old female. Dr Bolton, it's all yours," the night shift leader Kevin White spoke. Five minutes later Troy stood at the desk in the ER when he heard an ambulance stop. The sound of a gurney rattling against the floor and running feet. He saw two paramedics and his mother? Oh no, he thought. It was his wife they were bringing in. He grabbed a pair of blue gloves and ran to meet the gurney.

"What happened?" Troy asked.

"She told us she had a stomach ache for most of the evening. About twenty minutes ago it got worse, and her mother-in-law called an ambulance," Alicia said. One of Troy's co-worker and friends ran over. It was Dr Eric Johnson.

"Blood pressure is 140 over 90, stats 88%," Eric read.

"Vomiting?" Troy asked.

"Once, thirty minutes ago," Lucille said.

"Trauma 4," Hailey shouted to them, deciding to help them. They pushed the gurney past the nurse desk and to the left back the curtains.

"Start an IV, give two bags of fluids, and start an ultrasound," Troy instructed.

Eric stepped away from Gabriella and turned towards Lucille. "Mrs Bolton could you wait in the waiting room? We'll give you an update later okay?" Eric asked politely.

"Of course," Lucille said.

"Between you and me, Gabriella is in good hands," he said his voice a little lower.

"I don't have any doubt," she smiled and headed towards the waiting room.

* * *

The last thing that Gabriella remember clearly was being wheeled to the ambulance. From there everything is kind of fussy. She remembered Troy coming running towards her at the hospital but then everything went black.

* * *

When Eric returned Troy were starting up the ultrasound machine, and Gabriella had been moved from the gurney to a bed.

"Do you need me?" Eric asked making himself acknowledged.

"Could you do the ultrasound? You know what to look for," Troy said. Hailey had put an IV in Gabriella's left arm, and she were given fluids.

"Gabi," Troy said and Eric turned towards him. Gabriella's eyes were closed and she was not responding. Troy checked her pulse and he relaxed once he found it. He gently opened her eyelids and shone a light.

"Pupils are reacting," he said.

"Troy, I think I found something," Eric said. Troy looked at the screen and then at his friend.

"The paramedics were right, it is an appendix," Eric started.

"That explains the abdomen pain, but not why she blacked out," he continued.

"There is one thing but it's not common," Troy said looking at his friend.

"You could potentially endure a black out due to pain," he said.

"But by an appendix?" Eric questioned.

"It is experienced different by everyone," Troy said philosophically. "And it could be other reasons," he said.

"Well let's tell the OR and send her to pre-op," Eric said and Troy nodded agreeing.

"Could you and Hailey send her up? Give 2ml in the drip and I'll call the OR asking when they are available," Troy said and Eric nodded. Both of them snapped of their gloves, and Eric followed Troy to find Hailey. Troy walked to the nurse's station and picked up the black phone. He dialled the number and waited for someone to answer.

"OR," someone said.

"It is Dr Bolton from the ER. We have a 24-year-old female with appendix. When can we send her to operation?" he asked.

"OR 3 is available in 30 minutes," she said.

"Great bye," he said and hung up. He wrote on the board and checked if Eric was available to join him. He was so he wrote on Eric's column to. Troy then walked into the waiting room to tell his mom about the situation.

Lucille looked around the waiting room nervous. One of Troy's colleagues had told her that she would get more information, but she was still worried. She looked down and wished someone would be there, and when she looked up her son was there. A grim expression on his face.

"Hey," he started.

"Is she okay?" Lucille asked carefully.

"She will be," Troy started and continued to explain when he saw her puzzled face.

"We have scheduled an operation in thirty minutes. Dr Johnson did an ultrasound and we're concerned about her appendix bursting," he said.

"What if?" she asked.

"We won't know for sure until we take a closer look under operation. However, we hope everything's going to smoothly," Troy said and his mother nodded. "Right now she has been wheeled to pre-op, where she will be prepped before we take her to the OR. The operation will take between thirty minutes to an hour, then we'll put her in recovery and then you'll see her," he said putting a hand on her back.

"Is she ok right now?" Lucille asked concerned.

"Yes, she is in a great deal of pain but we gave her something. We can't give her the heavy stuff since she is going under anaesthesia. Meanwhile you go to the cafeteria and get some coffee, and I'll let you know when the operation is done," he said.

Together they walked out of the waiting room and past the nurse's desk. At the lift Lucille headed towards the cafeteria and Troy headed to the OR.

Before prepping himself to the OR, he checked on Gabriella but nothing had changed. She was now prepped for surgery and before he left Troy kissed her forehead saying; "Everything is going to be all right."

* * *

Troy washed his hands thoroughly and mentally prepared himself. He had done this operation many times, but on his wife? Non. He prepared mentally for the task ahead and vaguely noticed Eric there.

"You okay?" he asked breaking Troy out of his trance.

"Eh," he answered honestly.

"You have done this several times. It's just as all those surgeries," Eric tried to reassure his friend.

"You're right, and I know that, but I can't get it out of my head that it's Gabriella I'm operating,"

"Then don't think about it, and try and take it as a normal operation," Eric said turning of the water.

"You're right," Troy said grabbing a sheet of paper to dry his hands. He put on a cap and face mask before entering the OR. There he was given sterile gloves and a surgery gown. He walked over to the table and waited for the anaesthesiologist to do his job. The anaesthesiologist nodded and Troy was cleared to start the operation.

"Scalpel," he said starting making the incision…

* * *

Troy sewed the last stitch and put the needle down. "Operation complete," he concluded and Eric nodded from across him. Troy took off his gloves and walked out of the operating room along with Eric.

"That went well," Eric said and Troy nodded rinsing his hands under the water.

"I suppose so," was the only thing he said.

"Don't beat yourself up about it ok. I saw what you did, and it was just as it should have been," he reassured his friend. They both grabbed their stethoscopes from the shelf and Eric walked back to the ER, while Troy went to the post-op. He gave them the papers they needed and told them to page him if there was anything. He then walked to the waiting room to find his mom.

When he rounded the corner both of his parents sat there. His mother sat there with a coffee cup in one hand holding his father's hand. None of them appeared to be speaking. Both of them looked up when Troy came walking towards them.

"How is she doing?" Lucille asked.

"The operation seems to have been a success. We don't know for sure until a little bit later, but as of right now everything seems to be as it should. We have placed her in the post-op now, and when she wakes up we will move her and you can see her," Troy explained.

"But everything is moving in the right direction?" his father asked and Troy nodded approvingly.

"Defiantly," he confirmed before a beep was sounded. It was his pager. He looked at it and saw that he was being called to the post-op.

"I have to run, but I'll let you know when I know more," he said and walked off.

"Hello Hailey," he said when he came to the desk. She looked up from the papers and shock her head.

"Who said I needed you," she smiled smugly.

"I'm hurt," Troy said smiling.

"Always," she grinned. "Anyways, I thought you wanted to know that Gabriella was waking up," she continued.

"Thanks Haley," Troy said and got the paper from Hailey.

He walked to where Gabriella's was and opened the door. He saw Gabriella twitching and he put the papers on the table and took his wife's hand. Her eyes slowly started to open and she blinked a couple of times.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Pain," she whispered.

"Now that you are awake I can ask them to increase the dosage," Troy said and Gabriella nodded.

"I know you want to sleep but try to stay awake for another minute ok," he asked and grabbed the papers. "Do you know where you are?"

"No," she whispered.

"You're at the hospital Gabriella. You just had surgery for an appendix," he explained scribbling down something on his paper.

"Can you open your mouth?" Troy asked and shone a light down her throat and in her eyes. He wrote down the results and nodded to himself.

"Do you know who I am?" he questioned.

"My doctor," she said still whispering. Troy was happy with that answer and smiled to himself.

"Can I sleep?" she whispered.

"Yes you can. I love you," he said.

"I have a husband…" she mumbled before falling asleep. Troy chuckled and walked out.

"How is she doing?" Eric asked when Troy returned to the ER.

"She's getting there. She had an allergic reaction to the anaesthesia, is in pain and extremely disorientated," Troy said.

"How badly?" Eric wondered.

"She didn't know where she was, and didn't recognise me. That's why when I told her I loved her she mumbled/whispered she had a husband," Troy smiled.

"Well, that's the great thing about anaesthesia. People get honest," Eric smiled.

"What did you do about the allergic reaction?" Eric questioned.

"Since she has woken up I asked them to give her a higher and more frequent dose of painkillers and also give her some allergic pills," he said.

"Sounds about right," he nodded approvingly.

"Now I just need to check on her in a couple of hours and see if we can move her to a regular room," he said.

* * *

An hour and half later Troy and Steven walked into Gabriella's room again and when she awoke this time, she was more alert. The two doctors decided to move her and they wheeled her to a regular room. There Lucille and Jack could sit with her while Troy attended to other patients.

Gabriella had insisted that Lucille and Jack should go home when the clock neared twelve that night. The left but promised to come back in the morning. Throughout the night Gabriella didn't get much sleep. Her husband was in to check on her through the night due to her allergic reaction, and nurses came in to set pain meds and change IV bags.

* * *

At three thirty in the night Troy came in and saw his wife awake.

"How are you feeling?" he asked.

"Not great, but I'm getting there," she answered.

"That's great," he smiled and sat down.

"But I'm lacking sleep," she said truthfully.

"Sorry," he said sheepishly and she laughed. "Does it hurt anywhere?" he asked.

"Slightly in my abdomen, but except that nothing," she said.

"Where?" Troy asked.

"Just around the incision," she said.

"Can I take a look now, so we don't have to later?" he asked and she nodded pulling away the blanket. Troy lifted her gown and looked at the wound.

"Looks good," he said.

"How are you?" Gabriella asked not wanting the conversation to end.

"Good. Glad and relieved that you are ok," he said and she frowned. "I was so scared when the brought you in. I was afraid there was something seriously wrong with you," he confessed.

"But there wasn't and I'm ok. You made me better," she said took his hand. "You saved med," she continued. Troy smiled and leaned in to give her a kiss.

"You are my other half Gabriella, and I love you so incredibly much," he said and looked deep into her eyes.

"And I love you so incredibly much too," Gabriella said and giggled.

This event had shown the couple just how strong they were together and how much love they still had after so many years together.

 **Hope you all liked it! This was my first ever atempt one writing a one-shot, but I hope you liked it. Please leave a review and check out the poll in my profile!**

 **FreeFlyingWriter**


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